You are browsing the Blog for Homeowner Guide - Seattle Centric.

With summer winding down it’s time to start a to-do list for fall maintenance on your house. Your home is one of your biggest investments, the center of your family life, and your face in the community. As an investment, continual timely maintenance will save you money in the long run.

Have your roof, gutters, and downspouts examined. Leaves and dirt can build up in the gutters and cause clogging. Over time the sun and storms can cause caulking to come loose. All of which should be fixed before the cold weather hits. Some of you might be able to do this on your own but, use caution.

Have your furnace professionally cleaned and serviced. Annual maintenance is a lot cheaper than an emergency call if the system breaks and will extend its useful life. Be sure the filters are changed at regular intervals. This is easy to do yourself so you might want to watch this YouTube video which will show you how.

If you use your wood burning fireplace or cast iron stove, schedule your chimney cleaning before it gets cooler. Once the weather is cold the chimney cleaning professionals will be booked up for weeks in advance. Here is why you should get your chimney cleaned annually.

Clean and store outdoor furniture. Before the rain arrives is the perfect time to clean outdoor furniture and get it stored for winter. When Spring comes around it will be ship shape and ready to go back on the patio.

Walk around your house – are there any tree branches that need trimming? It’s a good idea to take care of that before any snow or freezing rain hits our area. Keeping trees trimmed and away from the house lessens the risk of a branch breaking and falling on your home.

Something else to consider, a home inspection! When was the last time you had your home inspected by a professional? Probably when you bought the house. Many proactive homeowners get a home inspection every couple of years, even annually if you are willing to pay the cost. Home Inspectors are trained experts on finding maintenance items, including the little things, and it will give you a “to do list” to work through over the fall season. We are all aware that homes are physical investments that should be maintained in order to grow. The wise homeowner will be putting a little time and money in regularly to save yourself from spending a lot of time and money later fixing the inevitable problems that come from irregular maintenance.